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Falluja women, children in mass grave
by crosspost
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 2:52 PM
hundreds of bodies still lay in the streets and were
being fed on by packs of wild dogs
Residents of neighbouring Saqlawiya village
have told Aljazeera that they helped bury the bodies of 73 women and
children who were burned beyond recognition. "We buried them
here, but we could not identify them because they were charred by the
use of napalm bombs used by the Americans," said one Saqlawiya resident
in footage aired on Sunday. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/24EBE5BB-CA3F-462B-8279-546BC1D9B7E6.htm There have been no reports of the US military using napalm in Falluja and no independent verification of the above statements.
It remains unclear how the women and children were killed.
The resident, who helped in the burial, told Aljazeera all of the bodies were buried in one mass grave.
Late last week, US troops in Falluja called on some residents who had
fled the fighting to return and help bury the dead. However, according
to other residents who managed to flee the fighting after US forces
entered the city, hundreds of bodies still lay in the streets and were
being fed on by packs of wild dogs.
Danger zone
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said
Falluja remained too dangerous to secure proper retrieval and burial of
corpses.
The ICRC and other relief groups are unable to enter the city
"We could not enter Falluja city so far due to the security measures
and the continuing battles," Muain Qasis, ICRC spokesman in Jordan,
told Aljazeera.
When asked about the security measures, Qasis
said: "In order to carry out an independent and acceptable humanitarian
action, we must have guarantees ensuring the safety of the humanitarian
staff.
"The humanitarian situation in Falluja city is very difficult.
"The city is still suffering shortage of public services. There is no
water or electricity. There is no way to offer medical treatment for
the injured families still surrounded inside the city," he added.
Detained civilians released
In related news, the US military in Falluja announced that it had
released 400 of the 1450 men it had detained in the war-ravaged city.
"More than 400 detainees have since been released after being deemed to
be non-combatants," the military said, adding than 100 more were due to
be released on Sunday.
english.aljazeera.net/
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